This is an unsteady time, as likely to be exhilarating as confounding, as Chinese cinema attempts to both assert itself as what we are repeatedly told will soon be the world’s largest film market while integrating the stars and traditions of the Hong Kong and Taiwanese pop culture industries. Read More

Duckweed (2017), written by Yu Meng; directed by Han Han . Grade: A- It’s been a tumultuous decade since producer Fang Li of Beijing Laurel Films sighed to the foreign press about the fate of two of his movies that fell afoul of China’s censors for portraying a little too much real life grit. Both Lost Read More

Actor-director Deng Chao was accused of pushing Chinese comedy “to a new low in terms of racist and homophobic humor” after Deng himself donned blackface in last year’s The Breakup Guru, yet that film still managed to haul in $103 million from Chinese moviegoers. Read More

After a quiet start to the annual Chinese box office “New Year’s period” (贺岁档)—just $212 million grossed during the first 17 days of December—ticket sales exploded last weekend as homegrown blockbuster Mojin—The Lost Legend (寻龙诀) debuted with a record $93 million. Mojin will continue its trek this weekend as it attempts to topple Monster Hunt as the highest-grossing film of all-time in China. But the distributors of two new releases will try to take advantage of the considerable space left over in the market by an underwhelming run from Surprise (万万没想到). Read More

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our mailing list

Sign up for our newsletter right now to have breaking news and the best stories of China Film Insider delivered to you.

China Film Insider reports on and writes about the people and companies making movies that soon may help to bridge the gaps in understanding between China, the United States, and the rest of the world. We work in Beijing, Los Angeles, and New York.